His name means little. His story less. An immensely oversized No. 95 blends in and disappears, with Powe's 6-2, 331-pound frame fading in the light of nationally known Texans defensive stars. Even rookie Louis Nix III outshines Powe, despite the former being stuck on the sideline because of knee surgery, while Powe has oozed sweat and manhandled bodies in the morning summer sun during the first week of training camp.

In six days, Bill O'Brien's Texans will play their first preseason game at Arizona. Without Nix, the initial heart of defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel's two-gap, 3-4 system will be Powe, who has been the team's primary nose tackle during seven consecutive practices.

Still, he barely is known in his new world. The 2011 sixth-round pick has started only one game in three seasons, producing just six tackles and a single sack. The stats say Powe doesn't matter and won't last in the NFL. Nix was drafted to become the Texans' nose tackle of the future. To many, Powe is just filling up space until the No. 83 overall pick of the 2014 draft receives a green light.

"I don't care about none of that, nobody knowing me," Powe said. "All I'm worried about is these coaches and this owner and the (general manager) recognizing me. That's all that matters to me."

But Powe is well-known and far from anonymous in the Magnolia State. In small-town Waynesboro, Miss., one of the most intriguing high school defensive prospects the state has produced possesses a name that still rings out throughout the southeast corner. At the University of Mississippi, Powe's three-year battle with the NCAA for the right to enter college remains legendary, with the gentle giant lifted to an echelon reserved for recent Oxford, Miss., football heroes such as Eli Manning and Chucky Mullins.

"I never gave up because I wanted to be an example," said Powe, who spent 2011-13 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Then there are the people who personally know Powe. Those who watched a boy overcome dyslexia and attention deficit disorder, while other young national football stars were absorbed into the warmth of anything-you-want college life. Those who saw a proud, hulking man break down in pure sorrow last week, when the selfless father figure who helped raise Powe suddenly died and the Texans' potential starting nose tackle opened training camp by serving as a teary-eyed pallbearer at Joseph Barnett's funeral.

In Barnett's obituary, anonymous No. 95 was publicly named a "special son."

"It really was rough for him," said Powe's mother, Shirley. "Oh God, it was rough."

Powe has spent 27 years earning his name. He has a story. He has a steel soul and soft heart.

Last-minute project

A couch-filled classroom at Wayne County High School in Waynesboro once belonged to Ginny Crager. As did Powe, who was given to the former gifted-student teacher as a last-minute football project.

For years, Crager watched Powe through a video lens, serving as a football videographer. By the time Crager saw her newest pupil up close, an always-growing boy was surrounded by a buzzing name and high school football fame. But there was a problem: Powe lacked the necessary credits to enter college.

In January of Powe's senior year, Crager was charged with building Powe's bridge. She soon discovered what had been hidden and overlooked since Powe was a child. His ADD was compounded by undiagnosed dyslexia, Crager said, leaving Powe struggling with basic reading skills.

"I'm thinking, 'Why didn't somebody else catch this down the line?' Crager said. "How do you turn something around for somebody when they've only got four months of school left? You don't."

Powe and Crager did. It took three lost years - one spent at the Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. - and a frustrating fight with the NCAA. During the slide, Powe's weight rose to 384 pounds while outside pressure mounted. But Rivals.com's No. 3 high school player in the country and a member of the Rebels' 2005 signing class finally played his first college game on Aug. 30, 2008, against Memphis.

"I taught him how to make his page move across the desk, so that his eyes would keep seeing," Crager said. "If you're dyslexic, your eyes push the words off of the page and so you have to move the page. That's just a little tiny thing that he should've been taught 10 years ago. And he wasn't. Of course, everybody that I talked to thought I was crazy when I said this is how you have to do it."

Battle vs. NCAA

Friends and family members are adamant that Powe is intelligent, saying he possesses a strong memory that excels at visual recognition.

"Jerrell can remember anything you tell him," Crager said. "If you say it one time, he knows it."

But when Powe was denied eligibility by the NCAA for a second time in September 2006, college sports' governing body was coldly unforgiving.

"The NCAA stressed it is concerned about Mr. Powe's long-term well-being and that he has not yet demonstrated he can successfully manage the demands of full-time college academics and intercollegiate athletics," the NCAA said in a statement. "There was insufficient information provided to the NCAA to determine that Mr. Powe completed the work on his own without significant assistance."

'Never gave up'

Jim Carroll initially was reluctant to take Powe's case. A private meeting became a turning point, as an attorney with more than 35 years of experience gave in when Powe broke down.

Over time, Carroll said he discovered a story more compelling and less Hollywood than that of Baltimore Ravens tackle Michael Oher, whose rise from drug-ridden youthful surroundings to Ole Miss and the first round of the 2009 draft was chronicled in "The Blind Side," a best-selling novel and major motion picture.

"I looked over and there was this tear running down (Powe's) cheek and he said, 'Well, I guess that's it for me,' " said Carroll, recounting when he initially declined to back Powe. "And I said, 'Oh, (crap). OK.' "

By 2010, Powe was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference second-team defender, earning an invitation to the annual NFL combine. His age and three lost football years worked against him as he traded amateur status for pro life. But Powe had outlasted the NCAA's shadow and overcome the dyslexia that nearly derailed his career.

"Jerrell just never gave up," Crager said. "He just said, 'Tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it.' "

Losing a mentor

Powe was deeply challenged again before the most important season of his NFL career.

He was raised by and lived with his mother in Waynesboro. But Barnett guided Poe's youth, serving as a crucial mentor and de facto dad.

"He was the one that stayed by him and never left his side," Crager said. "Joe was the glue that held Jerrell together."

Last Tuesday, Barnett died at age 68 in Jackson, Miss. While the Texans were preparing for their first training camp under O'Brien and the media were figuring out whether veteran wide receiver Andre Johnson would appear, Powe quietly returned to his native state to help lay to rest the most important man in his life.

"He was really torn because he had to be late to report," Carroll said. "He just said, 'Jim, I have got to do this. I've got to go to this funeral. That man got me where I am.'

Last Friday in Waynesboro, a funeral mass was held for Barnett.

"Great mentor, great father, great father figure," Powe said. "He showed me how to love and showed me the importance of life: putting people before self. … It was very emotional. Real emotional."

On a web page devoted to condolences for Barnett, Powe is listed next to the names of Barnett's sons, Shane and Slade.

"He always (met) you with a big smile and expressed concerns for his community, fellow man and friends," reads a posting about Barnett by DeLynn Daws. "He will be sadly missed. May God comfort and bless all of you."

Making a name

Powe's name suddenly became more important in Houston on Saturday.

O'Brien revealed that Nix is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, pushing Powe to the top of the Texans' depth chart. Longtime defensive line coach Bill Kollar said the battle for the team's starting nose tackle position is wide-open. But O'Brien acknowledged the same personal traits that guided Powe from Waynesboro to Ole Miss and the NFL have made an early impact on the Texans.

"Very mature guy. Another guy that is a really good teammate," O'Brien said. "Good communicator. Called me last week when he had … a death in the family. Just have really enjoyed getting to know him. He's fighting hard."

When Powe entered the NFL, he was too eager and lacked patience. Five weeks away from potentially lining up against Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III on Sept. 7 at NRG Stadium, a resilient athlete who's barely made a dent in the NFL already has Week 1 planned out. Friends and family from Waynesboro have an open invite. Powe's mother will make the three-state, 500-mile trip.

"They better get here, because this is going to be the first and last time I buy that many tickets," Powe joked.

Barnett will be personally honored. His special son who never quit on life will enter the fourth and most important stage of his football career. Houston will hear his name. And until Nix returns, No. 95 is the center of the Texans' new 3-4 defense.

"All I'm worried about is at the end of this camp being the starting nose guard for the Houston Texans," Powe said.